AfDB and Korea Public Procurement Service Sign MOU

The AfDB and the Korea Public Procurement Service (PPS) on Tuesday, September 29, 2009, in Tunis signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to enhance collaboration on public procurement reforms. The MOU was signed by OSVP Vice President, Aloysius Ordu, and the Korea Public Procurement Service (PPS) Administrator, Tae-Kyun Kwon.

The PPS is the Korean government’s central procurement agency. The PPS established the Korea Online E-Procurement System (KONEPS) in 2002. KONEPS has been benchmarked as good practice by the international community, including the UN and the World Bank. The PPS has, in this regard, begun sharing its knowledge and experience with other developing countries.

Under the MOU, the two institutions will collaborate in the following areas:

Support public procurement policy-making, institutional development and capacity building in RMCs;

Support multinational and other special initiatives and networks on public procurement reforms in Africa;

Provide technical assistance and feasibility studies on potential projects involving public procurement reforms and in particular, e-procurement; and

Develop and exchange human resources through training programs, secondment of experts, and organize seminars, workshops, study tours and other similar events to be financed by the KOAFEC Trust Fund or by the PPS.

The PPS, the Korean government, the Export-Import Bank of Korea and the AfDB are organizing a three-day e-procurement workshop in Tunis from 28-30 September 2009, targeting government officials in North and West African countries. The workshop is financed by the Korea-Africa Economic Cooperation (KOAFEC) Trust Fund.